Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani yesterday met with Danish Ambassador to Iraq, Mr. Gert Meinecke , to discuss bilateral relations, the situation of Syrian refugees in the Kurdistan Region, and developments in Iraq and the region in general.

Ambassador Meinecke hailed the rapid economic boom and the development the Kurdistan Region has been experiencing in recent years and said his country wants to contribute to this process and develop close ties with the KRG. He said Denmark’s foreign trade minister will visit the Kurdistan Region next year and will open a Danish trade office in Erbil to facilitate closer cooperation with the Region. President Barzani welcomed this step by the Danish government and expressed KRG desire to develop close ties with Denmark.

On the situation of Syrian refugees, President Barzani said so far more than 200,000 Syrian refugees reside in the Region. He said although there has been limited international attention to their plight here, the KRG has done whatever it could to help the Syrian refugees, and to this end has allocated 25 million dollars. He added that popular-level support for refugees has been equally significant.

The President and the Danish Ambassador also talked about the upcoming parliamentary elections in the Kurdistan Region and the national elections in Iraq planned for early next year.